


Kinda Wanna Have You Back

by FeralCreed



Series: BuckySteveTony works [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Happy Ending, Insecure Bucky Barnes, Kissing, M/M, Multi, Steve loves them both, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, argument, little bit of H/C, making up after a fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 17:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6433408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralCreed/pseuds/FeralCreed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even though Bucky and Tony had a fight that ended up with Bucky exiting their relationship with Steve, his metal arm still needs maintenance. Their forced proximity helps them straighten some things out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kinda Wanna Have You Back

“All right, done,” Tony says, but he sounds far more absentminded than he usually does. Rather than kick Bucky in the shin and pull him in for a kiss with an arm around his neck, he turns away and stands up. The standing up is unusual in itself, since Tony generally prefers to abuse the term 'sitting' with his mechanic's stool. Sometimes he leans so far back that Bucky itches to set him upright, but the soldier hasn't dared put a hand on Tony the entire time he's been in the workshop. Not like that's usual, either.

 

“Yeah, thanks, Tones.” Bucky winces internally at the nickname, especially since he said it so familiarly. A couple weeks ago, he wouldn't have thought twice before using it or a dozen other pet names, but things have been strained between the two of them recently. It was Bucky's fault, which they'd both agreed on, but that had been the only thing they hadn't bickered over.

 

It had honestly been a stupid thing. They'd both been stressed, which had made Steve edgy, which had ended up affecting the entire team. And even though Pepper wasn't an Avenger, she was closely linked with the team and had had her own problems. But if it hadn't been for the stress, the bunch of them probably would have been mildly pissed for a short while and then brushed it off. With the way things had gone, Steve had been caught kissing both his boyfriends at different moments during some kind of gala that Bucky had enticed them into attending, and none of the others were particularly patient with the way the tabloids had gone crazy.

 

Bucky had punched a guy hard enough that the reporter needed to go to the hospital, and Tony had yelled himself almost hoarse. They'd both been furious at the way the papers had slandered Steve, not to mention everything they accused Bucky and Tony off. 'Slut' and 'homewrecker' were the two most common phrases, applied to both of them and with amazing amounts of venom. And of course, Tony's former playboy ways had been examined in ludicrous detail. Not to mention that Steve's virtues had been fully discussed and found wanting, and some of the more outrageous reporters were even calling for him to “discontinue the immoral practices which dishonor the country he claims to stand for”. It had been articles like that, that had really gotten his two boyfriends angry.

 

And since Bucky had been totally unconcerned with getting caught, Tony had been irritated with him as well. In all honesty, Bucky had not intended to kiss Steve in the first place, and he certainly hadn't had any idea how much people would react. Which had made him defensive and angry even before he got yelled at, so Tony's lecture had ended with Bucky breaking up with his boyfriends and declaring a lifelong existence as a hermit in a torrent of heated words. Steve had tried to talk to Bucky, but the man had locked everyone out of his floor and refused to let Jarvis play any messages.

 

Only Bucky's arm had eventually gotten him to come out from his hiding. He'd accidentally jarred loose a connection while training and had needed Tony's expertise to set it right. At first, he'd tried to fix things himself, but it just wasn't a job he could do one-handed. None of the other team members had the expertise to be any help, either. So Tony had been his only choice, even if he'd been stiff and cranky throughout the whole thing.

 

Now, Tony glances down like he's expecting an actual wound from hearing his old nickname. “It's fine,” he tells Bucky, trying to play nonchalant. “Let me know if anything starts hurting again.”

 

“Yeah, besides the obvious,” Bucky mutters under his breath. His sarcasm is as natural as breathing, even when it's the worst possible time.

 

Tony slams a tool down on his workbench. “Well, I can't help you with that. You didn't even apologize.”

 

“That's a lie. I said I was sorry at least a dozen times that night.”

 

“You never apologize for anything!”

 

“Well maybe you were too busy yelling at me and saying my apologies weren't good enough, to be able to hear what I said.” Bucky glares at him, furious again even though he just wanted to make things easy and simple like they used to be. Sometime during their short argument, he stood up, and now the two of them are almost nose to nose.

 

“I never would have said that,” Tony protests after a moment of stunned quiet. “You know that I respect you too much to treat you like that.”

 

“And that's part of the problem too, isn't it? You can't even fucking admit that you loved me. We were together for almost a year and you never said it once. I broke up with you because you were yelling at me for something that I didn't intend to happen. Even when I told you to back off, you were still the almighty Tony Stark and couldn't listen for once in your goddamn life.”

 

“You knew from day one that I wouldn't be perfect.”

 

“Maybe so, but I never expected you to act like your father.”

 

Tony flinches and crosses his arms across his chest, glancing away but obviously furious. “You know that's a _fucking low_ blow, Barnes. I'm done.”

 

“Sure, run away from a serious conversation. I guess that's what you're best at. You couldn't even talk to me that night without raising your voice.”

 

“Yes, I'm running away. What do you want me to do? Huh? And don't say that you don't know about my history with Howard, and the way that affects me.” Tony has a thousand and one problems; his father is at the top of the list, with his physical and verbal abuse towards Tony. Sometimes the inventor still has nightmares about the way Howard treated him.

 

Bucky grits his jaw and refuses to look anywhere near Tony. “I'm sorry.”

 

“Little fucking late for an apology.”

 

“I know,” Bucky mumbles, swallowing and staring at his feet. “That... I... Tony, I was way out of line comparing you to Howard. Goddamn it, I-I don't know how to talk to you any more. How do I always manage to say the wrong thing to you?”

 

“Yeah, well, since I'm so much like my father, I guess I wouldn't know any better, myself.” Tony might not know when to accept an apology and let things go. He might also not know when to acknowledge that fact.

 

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to apologize when the person you're apologizing to keeps throwing your mistake back in your face?” Bucky demands.

 

“Yes, yes I do.”

 

“Then why do you keep doing it?”

 

Tony opens his mouth but shuts it again when Bucky glares at him. “I... Fuck. Dammit, Barnes, I'm sorry. Not gonna say you're right,” he adds petulantly. “But gonna admit you may have a point.”

 

“I just want what we had before,” Bucky tells him, feeling helpless. “Just because we blew up at each other doesn't mean I stopped loving you.”

 

“Yeah, well, it might be a little weird to not have your too-damn-curious self pestering me every hour of the day and night. And it might be possible that Dummy misses you a bit. Might also be relevant that the workshop is big enough for both of us to be in here at the same time.”

 

“I'm not playing guessing games, Tony,” Bucky informs him. Because even though it's been a few years since he escaped Hydra, he's still unsure about how to read the nuances of peoples' body language and expressions. Even though he knows Steve and Tony better than anyone else he's met, at times he's still unsure. Generally it's easier to make the other person spell things out than it is to make an attempt at understanding.

 

“Should you, for some reason, want to hang around the lab... I might be okay with that.”

 

Bucky blinks, swallowing even though his throat is suddenly dry. “You'd take me back?”

 

“...Possibly. Okay, yeah, yeah I would.”

 

“Are you asking to go back to the way things were, or for me to stick around for a couple hours and then go back to ignoring you?” Even though Bucky wants Tony back in any way he'll be accepted, he has to know where he stands before he agrees. Like the outcome was ever questioned by either of them.

 

“I want you to stay. And be everything you were before. Missed you, Buck-o. Kinda wanna have you back.”

 

Bucky throws his arms around Tony's neck and clings to him tightly. “Oh my god, thank you,” he says, like Tony saved twenty years of his life instead of forgiving him.

 

Tony staggers a little under the sudden weight he's holding, but he slides a hand to Bucky's hip and another to the back of his neck. “Hey, you okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Bucky manages to say. “I-I was scared you wouldn't want me any more. That I fucked up one time too many.”

 

“No way,” Tony informs him, the hand over the back of his neck curling protectively. “I was just angry, sweetheart. Still want you. And I still... I still...” Tony takes a deep breath and whispers the words. “Bucks, I still love you.”

 

Bucky tightens his grip and cries into Tony's shoulder. He tries to pull back after a few minutes of crying, but Tony tugs him right back where he was. It takes a lot for Bucky to stress enough to be openly emotional. Cutting himself off from the team without preparation definitely would have done it. Even though he'd deny it, Bucky is still an intensely touch-starved person. Receiving and giving affection are as necessary to his well-being as eating and breathing. Sudden, drastic changes aren't something he enjoys, especially when those changes affect the people he loves as well.

 

“You okay?” Tony asks when Bucky's crying finally dies down.

 

“I love you,” Bucky replies quietly. “S'always been you 'n' Stevie.”

 

“And it's always been you and Steve for me, too,” Tony reassures him. “Gonna stay?”

 

“Can I?” Bucky is also uncertain when it comes to relationships and emotions, but he makes up for it with his open and nearly constant affection.

 

“Please.” Tony grins when Bucky agrees, and it feels like the first real smile in two weeks. He immediately starts babbling about one of his latest projects, grabbing Bucky's wrist in one hand and waving madly in the air with his other hand. “C'mere, take a loook,” he whines.

 

Bucky can't help laughing. He lets Tony drag him to a pair of mechanic's stools and sits down on one, giving a little shriek of surprise when the genius pushes him across the floor. When Tony shoves after him, one of his wheels spinning him off course, Bucky doesn't even try to stop the huge smile on his face. The two of them are bickering and laughing the rest of the day, occasionally kicking or swatting at each other, but kissing and hugging just as often. Tony doesn't give affection too commonly, but he's always ready to receive it, so it works out well for both of them.

 

Steve finds them wrestling hours later, Tony trying a new gauntlet against the strength of Bucky's cybernetic arm. It's something they've done thousands of times before, although Tony's always careful not to hurt his boyfriend.

 

“So did you two work things out?” the blond asks, half curious and half cautious.

 

“Yeah,” Bucky tells him, relief evident in his voice.

 

“Sorry I was such a douche,” Tony adds. “We made up. And we've spent half the day together without trying to kill each other, so that's a win.”

 

“I'm proud of you,” Steve says. “C'mon, get off the floor. We're gonna have dinner together. Already made, just waiting on you.”

 

“Food,” Tony chirps, instantly attracted. Bucky takes advantage of his distraction to pin him to the floor and kiss him deeply. Steve makes a quiet noise of approval and desire in the back of his throat at the sight the two of them present, and when they both smirk at him, he's a lost cause. Dinner waits.

 

 


End file.
